For Angela Phillips life has meant building on a legacy as well as creating her own. While at SHS, Angela was a member of the band & choir, including the chamber ensemble. During her junior year, she spent six months as a foreign exchange student in Australia. “She values that experience,” says a fellow alum, “not only for the opportunity to learn about a different culture, but also because of the friendships that she made, friendships she holds dear to this day.”
While in middle school Angela began working for her father, the late Ralph Phillips ’62. She answered phones, filed, and sorted parts – literally learning the business from the ground floor up. After graduating from SHS, Angela earned a BS degree in economics & political science at Hiram College. After completing her entrance exam for law school, Angela’s father asked her to assist him in running his new operation in Middletown, OH. Initially they planned for her to spend two years working with him in the business. But once she joined the corporation she quickly fell in love with the fast-paced, challenging business of manufacturing.
As the family business continued to grow, her role expanded to encompass administrative and financial leadership throughout the Phillips companies. Since her father’s death, she has taken on leading the entire corporation as president and CEO of the two manufacturing companies as well as several smaller operations all based in Shelby.
She continues her strong support of community programs in Shelby and her other hometown – Middletown. Her involvements include the Shelby Foundation, Richland County Chamber of Commerce, Richland County 4-H and FFA, SHS, Pioneer Career and Technology Center and North Central State College.
In Middletown she supports the Hope Center for Women and Children, and has been active in Junior Achievement, United Way, and the Cincinnati Children’s Home.
Says a fellow alum, “Angela provides scholarships, employment and assistance whenever a worthy cause comes to light.” Most recently she has been instrumental in the completion of the Ralph Phillips Conference Center that opened at the Kehoe Center. Her most recent project is The Shelby Country Club.
Angela and her husband Chad (Deskins) live in Middletown with their two children, Sydney and Ralph.
Nominator and presenter: Mary Lee Hannafus Barr ’66.